Staten Island Sri Lankan beauty pageant degenerates into fierce brawl as women in ball gowns try to end match between suitable men: winner says clash had ‘nothing’ to do with event or participants
A video taken on Friday showed a wild brawl at a first Staten Island beauty pageant to crown the first-ever Miss Sri Lanka New York.
The brawl included several men hitting and kicking each other while women tried to break it up
Event organizers and the winner of the election stated that the brawl had ‘nothing’ to do with participants or organizers
Winner Angelia Gunasekara said the fight broke out between two individuals from the crowd after the event
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A shocking viral video shows the moment a massive brawl erupted at an after-party for the first-ever Miss Sri Lanka beauty pageant in New York City.
Women in ball gowns can be seen trying to break up the violent fight. However, the men in suits who throw out kicks and punches keep piling up.
The melee, which involved no participants, took place Friday at The Vanderbilt in the South Beach neighborhood of Staten Island, which is known for its large population of Sri Lankan immigrants.
The election was organized to raise money for a cancer hospital in Sri Lanka, where the country is struggling with a shortage of medicines.
The Sri Lankan president fled his country earlier this year after months of protests over the worsening economic crisis.
A viral video shows the moments when a beauty pageant for Miss Sri Lanka New York descended into chaos as two attendees started a brawl
While it’s unclear if there were any injuries, the brawl involved at least seven different men as women tried to break up with them.
Earlier in the evening, Angelia Gunasekara, born in Queens, was crowned the first Miss Sri Lanka New York
The video shows the incident starting with shouts between two groups of men, but it turns into a full-blown brawl when punches start flying, while glass can be heard in the background.
The women on the ground tried to break it apart at first, but the fight quickly intensified, forcing them to retreat and it unfold.
It was an unfortunate end to a glamorous evening where Queens native Angelia Gunasekara was crowned the first Miss Sri Lanka New York.
The Sri Lankan newspaper Colombo Gazette reported that fighting broke out between US-based Sri Lankans and Americans.
Gunasekara took to Facebook to “address certain rumors” surrounding the brawl and pleaded for publications to get the facts before reporting on it.
The fight “had absolutely nothing to do with the participants, the participants’ families, the committee, so it’s very disturbing to see articles written about us,” she said.
Gunasekara added that after the event, there was an altercation between two people in the audience outside.
It’s unclear if any arrests were made after the fight, but the NYPD confirmed no arrests had been made that night for assault in the area.
The NYPD also had no information about injuries.
Gunasekara took to Facebook to respond to news of the brawl, saying it had “absolutely nothing” to do with the participants or the event
14 different contestants competed for the beauty crown on Friday, but Gunasekara, an office manager and student, eventually took home first prize
The beauty queen lamented, “We haven’t had a single moment to feel or embrace success.”
Gunasekara is “currently enrolled at the New York Institute of Technology majoring in Computer Software Engineering” and works as an office manager at a healthcare facility, according to the event’s Instagram page.
The election organizing committee also said there were no participants in the fight and said the incident was unrelated to the election.
To be clear, contrary to social media misinterpretations, none of the participants were ever involved in a fight. None of the girls fought each other for the crown,” the committee said.
“They respected the judgment, cheered for the winner and enjoyed the rest of the evening,” the organizing committee said.
The event was attended by over 300 guests and was considered a ‘huge success thanks to our event crew, our amazing participants and all our sponsors and supporters!’